Chronicle Review

Proving that a small budget can do big things -- one take at a time.
Full review by Isaac Handelman

The distribution of a film with no big names behind it is a dangerous bet for a studio to make. While some manage to become dark horse hits or cult classics, others crash and burn in every conceivable way. It’s for this reason that I’m thankful to 20th Century Fox for giving Chronicle the chance it deserves. There’s no way one of Hollywood’s powerhouses would have been able to conjure up this quirky little found-footage sci-fi flick. Only someone with big dreams and a small budget would have been able to make Chronicle work.

Superhero flicks aren’t hard to come by these days, so it would be easy for some to dismiss Chronicle as just one more cookie-cutter entry in an overcrowded genre. That would be a huge mistake. The film isn’t a superhero movie as much as it is a superpower movie. It focuses on Andrew, Matt, and Steve a newfound trio of friends who inherit mysterious powers from a shady source. As they begin to discover the true extent of these abilities, they are forced to cope with the huge emotional burdens that come with power. 

What begin as petty pranks and harmless enjoyment culminates in a destructive battle through the streets of Seattle. The metaphorical heights that the film aims for are never fully realized, but as a self-contained story of slow corruption, Chronicle’s narrative delivers. Blessed with a completely unknown but still extremely compelling cast, the movie never faces the trouble of making its audience believe that the stars onscreen are the characters they portray. Since we haven’t seen any of these actors before, at least in any major feature films, nothing feels recycled, and the entire experience feels almost fresher. 

However, the film’s low budget doesn’t work in its favor entirely. The special effects, while usually acceptable, are definitely not up to par with most other films today. There were times when I was momentarily drawn out of the experience thanks to a cut-and-paste frozen baseball, or a hardly believable helicopter crash. Luckily, these moments are few and far between and when they do occur they don’t last long. 

Where Chronicle absolutely excels in its slow, tense buildup. From the inciting incident, it’s apparent that this isn’t going to end well. The evolution of the three central characters is truly fascinating to watch as it unfolds across Chronicle’s brief eighty-three minute runtime. It may be short by today’s standards, but the way the film’s story is told makes it feel longer than it actually is, which is, in this context, a compliment. The narrative is dark, but not brooding -- that is, until the final twenty-or-so minutes. This final quarter of the film takes a sudden turn for the sad, brutal and sometimes disturbing, a change of pace that may turn off some viewers.

One of the most unusual facets of Chronicle is in its handheld camera aesthetic. Primarily put to use in horror films, (which Chronicle, while dark, is not), this increasingly popular choice has had mixed results in the past. Certain films, like The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield, have found success in the untraditional format, while others, such as Quarantine, have not fared so well. Chronicle falls among the former of these categories, utilizing the format in a way that hasn’t been seen in the past. The story is told through the lens of Andrew’s video camera. When the film opens, Andrew has the camera on a tripod, and his filming tactics gradually evolve with his powers, with the teen eventually controlling the camera with his mind. It’s an interesting way to further Chronicle’s overarching “chronicling” of the protagonists’ transformation, and while it takes some getting used to in the opening scenes, by the movie’s close it has become a staple of the experience. 

It’s important to support something like Chronicle when it comes along. Budget-related flaws aside, there’s little to lament this creative, wholly original take on superpowers. Emotionally compelling, strongly acted and artistically unique, Chronicle sets a high bar for the onslaught of big-budget blockbusters that 2012 is yet to unleash. 

Final Score:

7.5/10

“Very Good”